First, you’re not actually locked in. And you’re surrounded by bright, ambitious, idea-driven people. Oh, and there’s beer.

So maybe nothing like a lock-in at all, then, eh?

If you want to know what 48 Hour Launch is really all about, get yourself registered and be at the Launch Pad tomorrow afternoon ready to dive into a start-up project. In the course of a weekend, teams will work to develop a business from idea to reality. Here’s a little more info from Launch Memphis:

48 Hour Launch is one of the most powerful and unique entrepreneurship programs in the country. It promotes the development of local economies and the implementation of innovative ideas with new launched startups. Simply put, creative individuals from all industries unite their talent in one location to launch new enterprises in a 48 hour period.

All your food, drink, wifi, and other needs are met by organizers. All you need to do is bring your brain (and a coffee mug and/or laptop). We take care of the rest while you take care of the startups.

The festivities kick off on Friday at 6 p.m. at the Launch Pad at Emerge Memphis.

We’ve posted their newest episode featuring Church Health Center below. Help support these guys and all the good they are highlighting in our city!

Also, hear Bob talk about his recent entry into the iPhone app store with a dedicated app for his blog, OneHalfAmazing.com. Check it all out at on the Social Expedition Web site.

Head here to RSVP and we hope to see you there — we’ll be taking photos and talking with attendees and blogging about it all for The Social Expedition, so be sure to stay tuned for more.

Here’s an excerpt from the Expedition blog:

The idea of the campaign is to inspire Memphians to take ownership of the city and be proud ambassadors of everything Memphis has to offer. Friday’s pep rally is only the beginning — events will be happening all over the city in April during three themed days of celebration. Thursday, April 8 will be favorite Memphis music; Friday, April 9 will be favorite Memphis food; and Saturday, April 10 will be what you love about Memphis. On those days, Memphians will be encouraged to create their own brand of “pep rally,” whether it’s a potluck lunch at work, a Memphis music swap or simply organizing contributions to a local charity.

Between now and then, more details will be available about specific events. Spirit of Memphis will be hosting several throughout the city on the final day of the April celebration. You can keep up with the plans as they develop by following @SpiritofMemphis on Twitter or checking in regularly at SpiritOfMemphis.org.

So join us to get your fill of enterprise-related social tools! Somehow it’s already February and the breakfast is this Wednesday, Feb. 3, at the University of Memphis Holiday Inn from 7:30 til 9:30 a.m. You can RSVP through Meet-Up.

Lap Around PDC revealed several products and updates that will soon be rolled out to help developers streamline their processes. One of the most exciting platforms coming is Windows Azure and its cloud computing platform. This program provides developers an on-demand way to “host, scale, and manage web applications on the internet through Microsoft datacenters.” For those of us who don’t regularly operate in the realm of web-developer jargon, this simply means better capabilities for businesses who need to scale their resources for the web. Justin went to two breakout sessions on the topic and says it’s interesting to see the capabilities, and that they are looking at the future benefits the program may offer.

Another program that’s generating some buzz is Microsoft’s SilverLight 4. This development platform, comparable to Adobe’s Flash, is designed to create interactive user experiences for Web, desktop and mobile applications. However, an exciting feature outlined at the conference is SilverLight 4’s ability to run online or offline. Justin tells us that this capability blurs the line between web and desktop applications and is a great indicator of things to come. He also said it’s unusual how fast the updates for SilverLight have come out, but it’s exciting to see Microsoft constantly improving on the product and trying to gain market share with Flash.

Other key products discussed were Windows 7, Visual Studio 2010, .NET 4, SharePoint Server 2010, SQL Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2008 R2. With the ever-changing face of web and social technologies, it can be hard to stay on top of the wave of “new” that is constantly rolling out; Justin said the conference was a great experience that “makes us aware of ways we can offer more to our clients in the future.”

• FedEx has sent more than 350,000 pounds of relief supplies, with plans to send more flights.
• The Haiti Medical Missions of Memphis is currently taking donations at their location on Kirby Pkwy.
• After committing to treat children injured in the quake, LeBonheur Children’s Hospital has now made plans to send a team of physicians directly to the epicenter to help with relief and treatment.
• The Young Avenue Deli is holding a Haiti Benefit Concert on Saturday, Jan. 23. All proceeds will go to Haiti Medical Missions of Memphis and Food For The Poor. Rocking out for a good cause has a storied past — why not do it right in your hometown to help Haiti? Doors open at 8 p.m. and the show starts at 9 p.m. A $10 donation gets you jamming.
• The Children’s Museum of Memphis (@CMOM) will hold a Zumba Fitness class on Sunday, Jan. 24 from 3 to 5 p.m. with proceeds benefiting the relief efforts. It’s pay-what-you-can, but $5 is the minimum and it’s all heading to the Midsouth Chapter of The American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund.
• Ten University of Memphis registered organizations joined together to form the “It’s Not About Us, Love Haiti” relief effort on campus. The relief campaign will take donations through Jan. 29 inside and outside the Tiger Den, Wilder Tower, the campus bookstore and several other businesses in the area near the Poplar and Highland Avenue intersection.
• On Saturday, Jan. 30, the Fred Astaire Dance Studio is holding a benefit Bellydancing performance called Dance From the Heart: Project Haiti. Any donation to the cause gets you in the door.
• Memphis Rotary continues its relationship with Stop Hunger Now with two separate food-packing events in February in conjunction with Haiti relief. The events will be Feb. 18 and Feb. 20, both at the Southern College of Optometry. Follow @MemphisRotary or visit MemphisRotary.org for more information.

And sure, there are plenty of benefits to real-time search. It’s got lots of sparkle and shine to it – the idea that you can search literally everything that’s being said about a given topic on the web right at this instant. It’s a fascinating innovation, but it comes with huge risk factors.

"Annoying Noises Prohibitted (sic)" by BarelyFitz on Flickr

As businesses become aware that their Facebook page – which may only have a hundred or so fans – is being indexed by Google, the temptation will be great to deck out updates with SEO-friendly terms and inundate the stream to grab that coveted top spot in the search. With search results automatically updating in real time, one post a day isn’t going to cut it. If you update about tomato soup in the morning and someone searches for tomato soup in the afternoon, your update likely won’t appear – it will have been pushed down by all the other people who’ve raved about tomato soup since 9 a.m.

Ultimately, while businesses can benefit greatly from being involved in social media, these platforms were not created for businesses. They were created for individual users. Still, very often a business’s presence on Facebook is a good thing for those individual users – as fans, they get benefits like exclusive deals and discounts and they can keep up with events at their favorite local venues. But Google is dangling a pretty tasty looking carrot in front of businesses with real-time search; if they bite, the utilities of social sites for individuals may soon be overshadowed by superfluous, constant updates that are a huge turn-off for most every user.

It’s certainly not surprising that a business would go to great lengths to nab the No. 1 spot in a Google search. Before now, that might have involved expensive SEO consulting and tedious copy writing to try to get in good with the algorithm. Real-time search is like a secret passageway, letting them bypass the algorithm entirely simply by having a social media presence.

But for those of us hanging out on Facebook, and not on the Google results page? As the Grinch himself once said, all the noise, noise, noise, noise, noise! We’re going to see much more of it on Facebook and Twitter. We may soon find businesses posting anything and everything to up their search rankings. But is that ranking more important than genuine fans or followers who are interested in your message or your product/service? If it’s the Google ranking, eventually those fans may go by the wayside, either by removing your page entirely or hiding your updates from their feeds.

There’s a fine line to walk. It would be foolish to ignore the possibilities of real-time search. You shouldn’t completely throw SEO principles out the window. But this does inject one more artificial aspect into the conversation that may push people away if not handled correctly. If it weren’t for the people using these networks, they wouldn’t have any value. If businesses turn up the noise too much those users are going to retreat. The back channel will have truly gone mainstream, and the value for the individual will wane quickly.

As for Google’s motives with this, we can’t help but feel like we’ve run into another snake-oil salesman. Hey, Facebook and Twitter and MySpace! We’ll give your sites lots of search love by listing real-time web updates in our search results. Sound good?

On the surface, it does. But if this results in increased noise, it may eventually be a detriment to these social sites. The habits of traditional marketing are hard to kick, and it won’t take long before businesses start picking up their megaphones. Our word to businesses? Be careful. Be smart and be savvy — you don’t want to get left in the dust — but be careful.

We hosted the event alongside our friends at LaunchMemphis, and we’re already brainstorming on future opportunities. BarCamp was a jam-packed day of sessions on everything from programming to social media as well as a chance to network, build connections and trouble-shoot among peers. It’s events like this one that bring good ideas to Memphis and bring great minds together — we couldn’t be more proud of the results.

You can learn more about BarCamp (or if you were there, look for pictures of yourself!) by watching the video below, and of course check out BarCampMemphis.com, the ultimate source for any and all BarCamp media, from photos to videos to blog posts.